CANUCKS ARMY GDT 2 – CANUCKS VS. SENATORS

The Canucks welcome the Senators to town as well as an old friend in Alex Burrows. Vancouver is undefeated to start the campaign, much like last season started, but the difference this year, thus far, is that they’ve already had a lead and kept it. As we all know, Ottawa is the least interesting city in Canada, and even though there are two points on the line, most fans are indifferent about this matchup, as they were during the 2007 Stanley Cup Final.

WATCH / LISTEN / FACE-OFF

TV: SNET-VAN (Check them all though, they’re sneaky!)

RADIO: SN650

PUCK DROP: 7:00 PM

LINE COMBINATIONS

The lines haven’t changed since Saturday as far as practice went but maybe Travis Green will give Canucks fans their due and dress Brock Boeser for this one. These aren’t the prettiest four lines, but for whatever reason, they were effective against the Oilers. It’s a lot to ask for this setup to work again, but weirder things have happened.

Jacob Markstrom was lights out aside from the first shot of the game last time, so he will most likely start.

Erik Karlsson is still out, and it also looks like Johnny Oduya will not suit up. Burrows, as noted above, will make his first appearance in Vancouver as a Senator and unlike Ryan Kesler, he will be cheered. It will be a good time. Ottawa has recalled Thomas Chabot and Christian Jaros from the AHL.

It happened – the Sedins played 4th line minutes. Only Thomas Vanek, Troy Stecher and Jake Virtanen had fewer minutes than Henrik while Daniel finished just ahead of Sam Gagner before joining the names above. A far cry from status quo of the past three or so seasons, the Sedins may officially be role players instead of star players. Stunning. Watch for this to continue. The jersey number banners are being stitched as we speak.

The return of arguably one of the greatest Canuck players ever: Alex Burrows. Probably the most clutch and loveable player in Canucks history, Burrows is definitely missed, but his selfless act of accepting a trade proved what type of guy he is. He’ll be vocal on the ice, and a few cheers will be given, and it wouldn’t be the worst thing if he potted a goal. Welcome back, Burr!

Erik Gudbranson was not very good against Edmonton, and the torches were already out after he was walked on for a goal. No one will know except the coaches how long a leash Gudbranson will get but personally, if I had the choice, Jordan Subban is less of a liability and I’m not even that big a fan of his. Getting walked a few more times might actually wake up management and the coaches and get a proper defenseman in the lineup. It’s early, but glaring errors stick out.

Bo Horvat is a special player. He helped bring Sven Baertschi to relevance and hopefully, he can do the same for Loui Eriksson. Eriksson had one assist last game and his last goal came on February 9 of last season. If someone needed to bump a massive slump, this is the guy. Work your magic, Bo!

Total shot in the dark on this one but look out for a Chris Tanev slapper tonight. He’s super sneaky like that, and no one would see it coming. It really isn’t all that exciting of a shot, but for a guy that is least likely to score, we’d all enjoy it.

For the first time in many, many days/months I am excited about another Canucks game. Saturday was entertaining to watch, and I can actually anticipate another win and not a new way on how to lose. Karlsson is out so there is a good chance the Canucks can expose Ottawa’s defence. I’ll get back to you on which players are capable of doing that. Canucks win in OT.

OVER/UNDER

Alex Burrows ISO Cam shots on the bench (+/- 8) Take the push. People like a good story but even something like that will get old quick.

Brock Boeser opening night snub mentions (+/- 2) Go with the over by maybe one point. It’s a big story, but maybe three is too much, I dunno.

Gudbranson walked around and replace him with Subban? Sutter’s been replaced by Guddy as the new Army whipping boy. Take him out of the lineup and watch the Nucks shrink a couple of inches figuratively and literally.

Yeah, sorry, but Gudbranson wasn’t nearly as bad as you claim and there is NO WAY Subban would’ve been better. After watching pre-season, I see why there are so many mentions of Subban’s poor defensive play.

Sens come to town sporting two overtime losses. Karlsson is out, as is Odya. Their D is weak, so we must take advantage of that. Strong forecheck and hammer their defemsemen should be the order of the day.

This is a winnable game, but I wouldn’t take the Sens lightly. We have to get the first goal.

If Subban were less of a liabily than Gudbranson then guess what, Subban would be in the lineup and Gundbranson would never have been resigned. You clearly know nothing about the players of which you speak so stick to what you do best and leave the coaching decisions to people who know far more about the players on the ice than you do. BTW Gudbranson single handy prevented a McDavid goal in the second period with some excellent stickwork in front of the net, you think Subban would have been there and pulled that off?

Replace Guddy with Subban? that’s a tough one to swallow. Gud has his weaknesses but he’s a presence that is needed. Let’s pick on Vanek until he scores an then move on to the next victim.
Yay Burrows! Love the guy.
If this is as entertaining as the last game, it will be fun.

Don’t know who always904 is, but I have a suggestion for them , don’t quit your job and try to get a journalist gig. Throwing the city of Ottawa under the bus was classless. Suggesting Subban should be in the lineup over Gudbranson shows us your grasp on the game. Maybe the editors should have caught this junk prior to posting.

Subban instead of Guddy? Pluuueeze! Try Pouliot first, if Guddy was that bad. I don’t see that they need the muscle like they did with the Oilers (Maroon, Kassian, Lucic) so this might be the game. Subban didn’t look great against just prospects … so the next up is Pouliot if we’re trying new guys, right?

Subban is now probably sixth or seventh on the RHD depth chart, depending on if you have McEneny playing his off-side as well. Biega is miles better, and in my opinion, Chatfield (and all 2 professional games) brings a lot more to a team then Subban.

Always90four has already been picked on for his Gudbranson/Subban comment to the extent I wouldn’t normally feel the need to pile on, but …

I think the comment is even worse than others have picked on him for so far. He didn’t say Subban was better, he said “Jordan Subban is less of a liability.”

If he was saying Subban was better than the offensive upside can be taken fully into play to make the argument (which I’d still disagree with.) But less of a liability???? Sorry, while I’m not a fan of the trade for Gudbranson, the issue with Subban is that despite his excellent offensive ability, he’s a huge liability on defence. To say he’s less of a liability than Gudbranson, imho, stretches credibility well past the breaking point.

I got the impression the Subban for Guddy thing was tongue in cheek. Guddy was on for the two goals that night, but wasn’t nearly as bad as some have said. How soon we forget our days of Sbisa, Bartkowski, etc. Also The first Edm. goal was not his fault at all. He wasn’t “screening” his goalie as some say, he was playing the man past the hashmarks. If anything it was the only softy Markstrom let in that night.